When Aspen Ladd signed with the PFL as a free agent, she was excited compete within the promotion’s season-long format the place the winner earns a $1 million grand prize.
She got here up quick in her first bid to turn out to be a PFL champion throughout the 2023 season, however the 29-year-old UFC veteran was excited to attempt once more in 2024, particularly after studying that an entire new roster of fighters could be leaping into the fray at 145 kilos. This previous November, the PFL closed a deal to amass Bellator MMA together with all the fighters, which included a slew of ladies’s featherweights and champion Cris Cyborg.
However moderately than put the highest eight fighters in one other season lengthy format, PFL dropped the ladies’s featherweights in favor of introducing a ladies’s flyweight season as an alternative.
“I used to be undoubtedly upset,” Ladd instructed MMA Preventing in response to the PFL’s choice. “As a result of I did my first season with them so going into the following one, we’re like we all know how all the things works, we all know how that is, I’m used to this format. Then bam! It adjustments once more.
“So that is extra again to the one-off fights like once I was within the UFC principally. Nevertheless it’s nonetheless totally different as a result of I don’t know what subsequent yr’s going to carry. I don’t know what we’re constructing in the direction of. I don’t know in the event that they’re combining. So I’m taking it one battle at a time. That’s my full, full focus and we’ll see the place it goes from there.”
At Bellator Paris on Friday, Ladd faces Ekaterina Shakalova, an 8-1 prospect who made her Bellator debut this previous August. Ladd can’t management what occurs previous that date, though she needs there was slightly extra clarification about what occurs afterward.
All indicators have pointed in the direction of a “champion vs. champion” battle between PFL’s Larissa Pacheco and Bellator’s Cris Cyborg however no deal has been struck simply but. That battle began gaining steam after Kayla Harrison bolted from the PFL and signed with the UFC.
Past that, Ladd doesn’t know if there’s a plan in place for a PFL champion at 145 kilos and a Bellator champion at 145 kilos or if all the division is simply being mixed into one group.
She’s enthusiastic about all of the totally different matchups now that the featherweight division is far, a lot deeper however the place that goes past 2024 is anyone’s guess.
“Bellator had an enormous division and now we now have this one, large division,” Ladd stated. “The chance to compete and with extra competitors, that’s thrilling. It’s simply the format we’re combating in. It’s like OK. Season final yr, again to one-off fights this yr however I’m curious to see what they’re going to do.
“Will it’s one unified belt for each organizations? Or are they going to maintain it Bellator has one and PFL has one? I don’t know and I’m inquisitive about that.”
Ideally, Ladd hopes the PFL considers returning to the season format for the featherweights as a result of that assured her the possibility to probably battle 4 instances in a yr with an opportunity to win a $1 million prize on the finish.
She was satisfied that was already occurring after PFL purchased Bellator however then plans modified and Ladd can solely roll with the punches being thrown at her.
“I feel that may be very neat and that’s the place my thoughts went originally of the yr,” Ladd stated a few future featherweight season. “That’s virtually what they did final yr. As a result of they’d the European season, Dakota [Ditcheva] received it after which they acquired Bellator and so they took the highest 125’ers and that was the season.
“It virtually looks like if that’s the plan, we’re going to have the 145’ers all battle it out after which take the perfect of them and throw them into the season subsequent yr. We’ll see.”
